THE Tartan Army are an obdurate bunch, battle-hardened to Scotland’s seemingly never-ending capacity to disappoint, but should they find themselves in slightly melancholic spirits as they touch down in Bratislava this afternoon they can at least take some salvation from the fact that they will at least be surrounded by kindred spirits.
If Slovakia and Scotland had been viewed as the two teams in World Cup qualifying Group F most likely to battle it out for second spot behind probable winners England, then so far it has borne greater resemblance to a race to the bottom.
If Slovakia, who beat Spain on their way to reaching Euro 2016, had been unfortunate to lose their opening match of this campaign to England courtesy of a goal so late it had to get a note from its parents, then they could have no complaints about their loss to Slovenia in Ljubljana by the same scoreline on Saturday, a night in which they were second best for most of the contest. Two games played, and second seeds Slovakia are, surprisingly, still to get off the mark.
In contrast, Scotland’s four-point haul looks bountiful but any optimism is immediately tempered by the recognition that they have so far played the worst two teams in the group. In every campaign over the past two decades there is usually a moment that can be later pinpointed as the point where the national team fouled things up and, already, Saturday night’s draw at home to Lithuania is already looking like the black mark set to permanently stain yet another botched attempt to reach a major finals.
Cause for optimism, then, will be thin on the ground when Slovakia and Scotland congregate in Trnava tomorrow evening, a meeting of sorrowful souls desperately seeking redemption. There is a candour among the Slovakians about the circumstances they find themselves in. Fail to beat Scotland and their prospects of making the finals in Russia in two years’ time will already be as good as over.
“The two results we’ve had have made the group very difficult for us,” said Filip Kiss, the Slovakian midfielder who recently spent 18 months on loan at Ross County. “We have a massive game now and we want to have something to play for until the end of the qualifiers. That means winning against Scotland. Realistically, nothing else will do.
“100 percent we have to beat Scotland now. Otherwise it will be really difficult for us to make second place. We’ve lost six points from our first two games which isn’t a good start. If we’re to have any chance of qualifying we must get three points against Scotland and that’s what we’ll be aiming for. We’ve lost the first two games 1-0, both tight games and we lost both by late goals. But now we need to win to stay in the group.”
Scotland’s failure to beat Lithuania offered a rare glimmer of hope for Slovakia on an otherwise disappointing night, a result that Kiss believes keeps second place still up for grabs.
“I didn’t know that Scotland drew against Lithuania until later and hopefully that will turn out to be a good result for us,” he added. “If they had won in Glasgow, as everyone had expected them to, we would have been six points behind them and that’s a lot to turn around. It means that tomorrow is a massive game. They’ll come aiming to win and open up a gap between them and us so it’s going to be a massive match.
“I always believed England would win the group because they are always strong in qualifiers. So our target - and I guess everyone else’s - was to finish second. I still believe we have a chance but we’ve made it very difficult for ourselves.”
Kiss watched most of Saturday’s loss to Slovenia from the bench, his planned appearance in the second half shelved when the hosts went in front forcing Slovakia coach Jan Kozak into a more attacking response. Missing several key players, including the suspended Martin Skrtel, the 25 year-old admitted the team had not performed well on the night.
“I thought Slovenia played really well the other night, they were really good,” he added. “They didn’t surprise us because we knew they are a strong side. For them their goal came at the perfect time, there wasn’t much opportunity for us to come back and equalise.
“We didn’t create very much so we have to be better than that. It’s been a problem in our last few games - we can’t score goals. If we don’t improve on that we’re not going to make any headway in the group. It’s massive for us that we will have Skrtel back. A real boost.
“A player like him is so important to us. He’s our captain, our leader. Even though he’s not a striker and doesn’t score goals he’s really important to us. He gives us security at the back. I don’t think we defended badly on Saturday but when he plays it gives more confidence to the players in front of him to go and play well.”
Retaining good memories from his year and a half in Dingwall, Kiss hopes for the chance to face Scotland tomorrow. “Of course I would love to play some part against Scotland. I was about to go on against Slovenia on Saturday but when we conceded the goal the coach decided to make a different change. So if I get the chance against Scotland I will be ready.
“I have good memories from my time there - I didn’t lose in two games at Celtic Park, we drew twice. That was quite good. And in my first two games I scored four goals which, for a defensive midfielder, was something I was happy about. I have only good things to say about Ross County. My friend from Slovakia Erik Cikos is there so I keep in touch with him about everything that’s happening.”
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